An "idiophone" is a form of musical instrument that broadly includes nearly any sonorous or musical sound generating device that is sounded by stamping, striking, shaking, clapping together, scraping, rubbing, or plucking.
Many forms of idiophones may be sounded by using more than one combination of the above sound producing methods. The cymbal, for example, may be sounded by using the striking, clapping, and scraping procedures to produce different musical sounds. These sounds may also be varied according to the area of the cymbal upon which they are applied. For example, brushes used on a suspended cymbal can be effectively used to produce a sustained "swishing" sound as opposed to the sudden, bright crash that may be produced by striking the cymbal with a hard object such as a drumstick. Gongs have similar characteristics but are seldom used to produce sounds other than those generated by the striking procedure.
Even with the above variety of sound producing methods available with various idiophones, new and unusual musical sounds are constantly being sought out.
It remains desirable, for example, to maintain a cymbal or gong sound while distinguishing the sound with vibrato. Heretofore, "vibrato" has not easily been established, especially with cymbals and gongs. Vibrato may be achieved with bells by rotating a struck bar rapidly about a fixed axis. The rotational motion, coupled with the vibratory action of the struck material produces a vibrato effect that will vary in frequency with the speed of rotation. The vibrato will therefore slowly erode as rotation slows. It is a somewhat difficult matter to initiate the tone along with vibrato since the bar must be struck and then rotated to establish the vibrato effect. While this is not a difficult feat when attempted in isolation, it becomes extremely difficult to accomplish during a performance in which striking of the rotatable bar is merely one function in a multitude of others that must be preformed throughout the performance. Furthermore, restriking the bar becomes difficult once the bar is set in rotary motion. The striking action has an effect on the rotational speed and cannot be easily controlled to produce both the desired sound and vibrato.
Vibrato is more easily produced in instruments that lend themselves to use with resonating tubes, such as the vibraphone. With such instruments, mechanical apparatus may be provided to alternately open and close the resonating tubes such that the reinforcement of sound produced through the tubes is periodically interrupted with a characteristic vibrato sound resulting. Resonating tubes are not easily adapted to all idiophones, however, since the tubes will only operate when the vibration frequency of the air column within the resonating tube is the same as that of the sounded idiophone. Cymbals, for example, operate over a large band of frequencies and therefore do not easily lend themselves to use with a resonating tube. Nonetheless, even instruments where use with resonating tubes is feasible, the addition of mechanically rotatable vibrator producing apparatus is usually mechanically and economically impractical.
From the above, it may be understood that there remains a desire to obtain unique forms of idiophones that expand the number of various sounds that may be produced, yet that will include, as a capability, the ability to produce relatively conventional sounds. It is also evident, from the above, that there is a need remaining for an instrument that includes inherent vibrato capabilities.